Inverse Cyclotrons for Intense Muon Beams

Intense muon beams will be essential to both high-energy and medium-energy physics programs at national laboratories. While inverse cy¬clotrons are a promising alternative to more expensive methods of cooling muon beams, their ability to cool intense muon beams is untested. During the initial stages of cooling, when the muon beam has the highest energy, it is uncertain how many muons will survive to enter the core and how much cooling to expect. At extraction, when the muon beam is at its lowest energy, it is unknown what adverse or beneficial effects ionization, muon capture, and space charge will have on the beam. This project will develop a software suite capable of providing a complete, end-to-end simulation of an inverse cyclotron. In order to simulate the high energy stages of the cyclotron, a specialized charged-particle tracking code, capable of correctly modeling ionization and multiple scattering effects, will be developed. The low energy stage will be simulated by developing an electromagnetic particle-in-cell code. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: The new software should enhance the electromagnetic particle-in-cell code, VOR¬PAL, which is already a successful commercial product. The new features should directly benefit the muon beam research community.